IF You Are Standing In The Rubble

I have seen a lot of hope lately. This month, we hosted a giant IF:Table in Austin and met and prayed and planned for our IF:Pray in Austin. We dreamed and bonded and prayed and hoped together. As a result hundreds of women will gather here at Fair Market in downtown Austin to pray for our city on September 23. We’re so excited.

As we dream about IF:Pray in a few weeks, I keep coming back to Nehemiah. Our world is so broken. We all feel it daily. I spent a lot of my life looking for my place in the brokenness to start trying to rebuild. I imagine a lot of you are searching for the same thing.

In the book of Nehemiah, God's people are returning home after years as slaves. They return to rubble. The wall around their city, representing God's protection and hope, is destroyed. So Nehemiah calls his people to rebuild. As they begin the process, they are immediately attacked from all sides.

They are despairing in the rubble.

Nehemiah hears that,

"In Judah, the strength of those who bear the burdens is failing. There is too much rubble. By ourselves we will not be able to rebuild the wall.”" (4:10)

So Nehemiah divides them with their people (their clan) in their places on the wall. And he says,

“Do not be afraid. Remember the Lord, who is great and awesome, and fight for your brothers, your sons, your daughters, your wives, and your homes.” (4:14)

A few weeks ago, God put a picture in my head of the whole world lit up: every city in America, every nation in the world. At IF, that's why we are building.

Because we see the rubble and we dream about leaders in their local churches in every city, in every nation, across the world rising up with us and saying,

But before we build and fight with love for our people- we fall on our knees and beg God to move for His glory here and for His people.

At IF, we all just believe in YOU. Believe that you are in your spots you are already serving and God is already moving and we just want to come alongside of you and cheer and say.

You are not alone.

You are doing important work.

You have sisters around the world in this with you.

What do you need?

God's Kingdom will come, His will will be done on earth as it is in Heaven. We just want as much of that happen now- as far as it concerns us. In our day. In our time.

On September 23, we're gathering our people, falling to our knees and praying for our place, that God would use us to rebuild our our own section of brokenness.

Go grab your people and join us! If you are going to be in Austin, register here. If you want to gather your people where you are, here's more information, tools and resources to lead your gathering.

If you want to join the live vision cast and or lead prayer in your home or city, sign up here and watch this video for more about IF:Pray.

We know all of these visions require many steps of faith for every one of you. Inviting friends, planning gatherings, leading prayer and trusting God to move in your places is risky. We want to support you in every way we can.

This Tuesday, September 2, we are rallying all of you that are leading to a second vision cast call. I'm really excited to answer questions and share more vision and Lauren Chandler is going to join us from the leadership team. And we're going to have one other visitor.

Over a decade ago, my vision of prayer shifted radically as I read a book called Fresh Wind, Fresh Fire. As we prepared to pray around the world, I thought there would be no better encouragement for all of us than to hear from this prayer warrior. He's watched the world around him change in miraculous ways because as a church Pastor Jim Cymbala led them to pray. The Brooklyn Tabernacle continues to be a light in the darkness and a safe place for many that are hurting. And every Tuesday night, Pastor Cymbala and his church are still on their knees praying that the walls will be rebuilt in their city. And in many ways the walls are being restored.

Do not miss this!

Share your prayer for your part of the wall below. Yes! I want you to pray in the comments. Let's do this.